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Freeman's Mind
Freeman's Mind is a Half-Life machinima made by Ross Scott, who is also the creator of Civil Protection. It is more or less an in character lets play of Half Life, featuring the the thoughts of the character Gordon Freeman (played by Ross), the protagnonist of Half Life. The series has been well received, all videos being rated 5 stars on youtube.com, and each episode obtaining anywhere between 300,000 or 1,000,000 views. It is also currently one of machinima.com's most popular series, the other being "Arby and the Chief." This is due to the large amounts of viewers it attracts, and the ease with which new episodes can be produced. History The first episode came out in December 2007 as an experiment for his side series, Freeman's Mind. It received positive response from viewers and Ross continued it to the second episode and was possibly going to be the last episode of the series due to a lot of work to do. But however, due to positive feedbacks and several requests for Ross Scott to continue Freeman's Mind, Ross continued the series and officially became an official machinima series. Mechanics Basically, Freeman's Mind is a walk through of Half-Life with added commentary. Ross Scott acts as Gordon Freeman, giving commentary for the events that surround him. The show mostly centers itself around absurd humour and monologue humour. The show also differs from Half Life, as Ross Scott uses a modded version of the game. For example, Freeman's guns deal roughly 3 times their normal damage, he never has to pick up health kits, and only certain threats appear fatal to him. While no threats have been proven to be demonstrably fatal to the protagonist in Freeman's Mind, we are left with the impression that the following could potentially end the life of the main character due to some of his comments throughout the series: *Explosives (such as grenades and tripmines) *Barnacles (which either snap his neck or can simply bite his head off) *Gargantuas and the Tentacles, which can simply crush him *Falling from great heights, such as down an elevator shaft *Being electrocuted by a high voltage beam (Electricity from broken power generators, not the ones fired from Vortigaunts, which only appear to be on par with a taser shot) *Getting shot in the head (he constantly complains about his lack of a helmet) *Sentry Guns, due to the high caliber rounds and its accuracy *.50 Caliber turrets set up at military check-points, because of their massive caliber and stopping power *Drowning * Fire, such as the organic flamethrowers on the Gargantua *Likely Zombies, as they are seen several times in Half Life punching through 12 inch thick concrete walls, so his suit wouldn't offer much resistance. However, this is never a threat, as zombies never get close enough The following threats are non-fatal, despite the fact that they are all potentially fatal in-game: *Soldiers wielding anything other than grenades, due to the bullet-proof nature of his suit and the small caliber of their MP5's. *Vortigaunts *Poison (such as those fired from bullsquids), likley because his suit administers anti-dotes *Headcrabs biting him (although they do cut up his face and annoy him beyond belief) *Sonic Booms from houndeyes The creator, Ross Scott, has said the reason for these changes is to make it more realistic, as he is acting under the condition that Freeman is almost completley bullet proof to small-caliber fire arms in his suit. In real life he says, someone would not have to visit a health station every 5 minutes, and US-issue Kevlar can only stand about 3 shots rather than 7 to 10 as it is in game. Freeman can also "do pull-ups" over obstacles (an example is in episode 12, where he did a pull up over a ledge rather than fight his way through more soldiers, having to avoid more barnacles, turret guns, and another squad of soldiers. He instead ends up at the exit, and after gunning down 3 soldiers with the element of suprise, he takes an elevator and gets to the surface.) Freeman's Mind can be found at the list of play lists at Machinima's YouTube channel, or at Ross Scott's website www.accursedfarms.com title and ending song:Military Precision Freeman's Personality Freeman is somewhat eccentric and ill-tempered, although this isn't to say he isn't very knowledgable about science and good at his job, as his inner monlouges show. During the series, he often makes sarcastic remarks, and is best described as a "smartass". He also is very egostatistical, believing everyone in the facility should be more like him (which is not entirely unjustified, considering the people he meets such as scientists who talk about donuts during an alien invasion). He also believes everyone in the military to be extremeley stupid and incompetent, as they don't appear to learn that their MP5's are ineffective against the HEV suit, attempt to pull off an extremley inpractical cover up, as Gordon points out, and execute very stupid combat maneuvers such as running around corners where they know Gordon is waiting with his gun pointed straight at the corner. Recently, Gordon has come under the belief they are learning, for example by almost killing him with a grenade. However, he still regards them as stupid "rat-fuck meatheads". Gordon also appears to have an irrational hatred of Cockroaches, resents Black Mesa's management and architects, and has a very low opinion of string theory physicists. Despite Freeman's eccentric personality, he actually comes off as sane compared to everyone else in the series, but this has recently started to deterioate. Initially Gordon was, reasonably, very upset about Black Mesa's insane architecture and the constant attempts on his life. While Gordon appeared relatively successful at adapting to his situation, by Episode 17 he appears to be having some sort of mental breakdown. Gordon now seems to have become accustomed to killing soldiers and aliens, and in episodes 15 and 22 he even appears to enjoy it. He hates Black Mesa for its constant locked doors, dead ends, and lack of saftey standards. He also really hates the "security system" which constantly forces him to traverse deadly obstacle such as tripmines or machine gun turrets. He constantly questions why they even have those turrets. Also, Gordon no longer gets upset at the insane architecture and dead bodies everywhere, as exposure has densensitized him. Despite this, he still maintains an arrogant, 'smartass' demeanor despite his many near-death experiences. The increasing extent to which this behaviour exerts itself stems from that fact that Gordon's increasing body count, stunts, and combat feats bolster his already high opinion of himself. Episodes Episode 1 The episode begins with Gordon beginning his trip to Sector C, his workplace. During the beginning of the ride, he fails to notice who is making the public announcements over the system, and discovers he is more than 47 minutes late, after hearing the time is 8:47 AM. When he is late, he has fears of being fired by the employer (company for him) and contemplates to buy a watch. As he continues his ride, he complains about a "high security branch", as he sees a rocket (or missile) waiting on another lane, and later complains about his job and wishes to have been a pilot, after seeing an Apache below him. During the tunnel ride, he stays relatively quiet when he hears his name over the PA system, but starts talking to himself again as he reaches a second tunnel, and fails to even observe his own environment during the final seconds of the ride. The episode ends when Freeman disembarks from the tram and passes through a door a security guard has opened for him. Episode 2 Freeman takes a stroll through work, trying to hide the fact the he is late, and eventually gets suited up for the experiment. It is first established here that Freeman is very knowledgable of science despite his eccentric personality, and threatens his co-workers often. It is also revealed that Freeman has an unhealthy addiction to Oxycodone, and considers many of his co-workers as inept. Episode 3 Freeman goes down to the anti mass spectrometer and starts the experiment. This eventually leads the Resonance Cascade being triggered, and disaster strikes Black Mesa. Episode 4 In this episode, Freeman is first introduced to the disaterous effects of the Renosance Cascade, and the fact that aliens such as headcrabs are pooring into the facility. He takes a stroll through a few rooms filled with dead bodies and tons of blood. He seems suprised by all the deaths and destruction, and he first finds his trademark crowbar in this episode. In the end, he accidentally ends up killing 2 people by pushing an elevator button and causing the elevator to fall, killing the two scientists. Episode 5 Freeman proceeds through the facility, meets a security guard who kills a few zombies for him, and first sees how stupid his co workers are. He heavily critcizes his co-workers for dying so easily, while he is still alive despite being in the chamber at "frickin ground zero". At the end of the episode, he finds a pistol on a dead security guard whom he failed to save, and starts to "play god". Episode 6 Freeman continues his ascent through Black Mesa, and first starts his hatred of locked doors and bad architecture, and first fights the aliens. He kills a few houndeyes and zombies with his pistol, and rides an elevator down into the facility while beating headcrabs to death with a crowbar. He eventually stops when a bullsquid falls and a catwalk collapses, and he does not know how to traverse the large black pit below. Episode 7 Freeman jumps his way past the giant pit, first engages the Bullsquid in combat, and eventually finds an elevator leading to the offices. Episode 8 Freeman starts out in the elevator leading to the Administration Office, the area covered by the chapter. As he leaves the elevator, he notices a scientist clinging to the ceiling, who is later dragged into it by an unseen force, and comes across a broken circuit where the sparks kill the headcrabs. Freeman, teasing the dead headcrabs, almost gets killed himself when the sparks destroy the air vent cover. As he turns around to find an alternate way, after reading some signs, tries to open the door but the trapped scientists cannot open the door and one of them is pulled up by a Barnacle. The scientists' inability to open the door for him makes Freeman complain that "that's not the spirit that kept Soviet paratroopers off my lawn!" Later, he returns to where he previously tried to enter - the same air vent, and crushes the harmless cockroaches that he finds. He enters the room he tried to enter, and successfully turns off the power and removing the obstacle he tried to cross earlier, but bawls when he comes across a locked door. His rage stops when he breaks the glass window and finds more locked doors, until he decides to enter a flooded laboratory with a loose circuit. While being shocked, he manages to enter another air vent and kill all the headcrabs inside but almost goes deaf due to shooting in narrow spaces. After getting back on the floor, he kills more headcrabs and finds a locked door, although he manages to find a shortcut in the ceiling and hears a ceiling turret fire at him. The episode ends after he returns to where he dropped into previously and obtains clips, before engaging the turret. Episode 9 Continuing from the previous episode, Freeman, after doubting to cross the turret's line of fire, manages to evade it, but comes across a bunch of headcrabs, which are whacked to death by his crowbar. Later, he comes across a security guard whom he ignores, and later finds two scientists trying to save one from being pulled into the vent, but both of them are pulled into it and killed instead. He is later attacked by Vortigaunts, who he calls "zappers", after the electricity they fire annoy him. He is later pulled up by a Barnacle but saves himself, although he complains about the blood falling on his hair. A scientist later tells him that soldiers are coming in to rescue them, but Freeman ignores him, and later, he is attacked by another ceiling turret, getting his ear shot off. To his frustration, he reveals that he has never been informed even once that automatic turrets exist around the building, and wonders what the point of them even is. Later, he approaches another security guard reminding him again about the rescue team, but he ignores him and tries to escape through the fire exit, but the door is locked, and he finds an alternative way - the freezer room, although he does not pass through anything hindering his progress such as headcrabs and zombies. Episode 10 Freeman enters the freezer room, and almost runs out of bullets fighting two bullsquids and a headcrab. He tries finding another air vent to escape, and finds a dead guard trapped in one, but he fails to show signs of pity for the dead person. He successfully crawls into the vent, and breaks doors while ignoring a battery (which he perceives as a car battery instead). After coming across a maze of pipes with Barnacles hanging in the ceiling and getting through it, Freeman reaches the other side of the door he tried to enter in the previous episode, with two dead security guards and one of them have just died. Later, he notices the G-man adjusting his tie and has no idea why he does it. The episode ends when Freeman comes across an elevator shaft with a scientist dangling to the ladder, and when he tries getting snacks from an unbreakable vending machine. Episode 10.5 Episode 10.5 is not counted as part of the overall episode, as it is an April Fools special episode. After consuming a Doritos from the same vending machine, Freeman obtains a shotgun and some shells in an office room, and tries to break the glass from the doors. Later, he comes across the same elevator shaft and makes a jump, though he falls into the chasm and dies, with the credits rolling with the HEV Suit telling the viewers about Freeman's current medical situation. Episode 11 Episode 11 begins with Freeman starting from where he began in Episode 10.5 (in which he accidentally falls in the shaft and dies). He performs a well-executed jump, but he is afraid trying to get up the elevator, and before it, he makes complaints about the ladder and the servicing mechanisms revolving around the elevator. He later sees a scientist dangling on an end of the elevator who falls down below, and manages to break the elevator's escape hatch. Upon arriving in the next area (the High Security Storage Facility in Sector D), he notices a scientist ask a guard to open the doors to Silo D, but the guard is caught by a zombie lurking in the open air vent, while the scientist blindly runs and triggers the laser tripmine. Freeman tries to break the glass in the silo door control for the shotgun, but he fails in doing so. Later, he accidentally triggers an automatic turret by stepping on the red laser, but he has a bad time fighting it, although he manages to survive. He obtains an MP5 submachine gun and declares that he can "solve up to 800 problems a minute". He later comes across another room with more turrets, but this time, he manages to avoid the lasers and the attacking Vortigaunts. The episode ends when he notices a tripmine and narrow spaces blocking his path. Episode 12 After stopping across the tripmine and other obstacles in his path, Freeman continues and manages to evade a pair of laser tripwires and the laser tripmines. He also sees the G-man who walks away without a trace. Later, as he progresses, he notices a marine kill a fellow scientist, and when Freeman is noticed, he gets at shot too, forcing him to gun down the soldier in self-defense. He boards a lift that takes him to another floor, to which a second scientist is gunned down by a squad of marines. When Freeman is attacked, he argues to them that he has a doctor's degree, while calling his foes "dicks" and gunning them down with his new machine gun. Later, he makes a shortcut to the lift bringing him to the surface, and the episode ends with the lift moving up. Episode 13 Freeman reaches the surface being pounded by airstrikes and artillery, and, to his annoyance, he gets shot at again. He complains about having to kill the marines in self-defense, though he has to. Thinking that the V-22 flying above him is a rescue plane, he runs back after the area is pounded by more bombs. Later, he makes a run for an underground chamber after being shot up by marines behind an electric fence and continuous bombing. Later, Freeman returns back below the surface through a network of air vents. After fighting off a few more foes and discovering unexplored areas with hidden caches of ammunition, he almost reaches the silo doors, but instead ends facing a dead end. Episode 14 Freeman tries to find another way to get out, after reaching a dead end in the air vent network. He later lands in the silo door control, with the scientist telling him what to do when he gets across the silo. Although he does not trust him, Freeman nevertheless proceeds. After passing through the door to Silo D, Freeman comes across a debris wall which he clears with his shotgun, and kills headcrabs he finds in his way. A bullsquid happens to be spitting at him, and shoots it down. Later, he reaches the lift control and shoots a zombie that claws its way out of a door. When Freeman pulls the lever, the lift going down a tram line goes up, and he later goes down. He boards the tram and enjoys the ride, although he is annoyed when various Xen creatures try to attack him, from houndeyes to bullsquids. When his problem is solved, however, the tram accelerates upon reaching the stop barricade and loses control; Freeman jumps off and handles the creatures approaching to attack. Later, he finds a way to cross the radioactive hazard after returning to the stopped tram, which he executes in the next episode. Episode 15 Freeman walks through a passageway beside the pool of radioactive waste, and manages to climb inside the steel pipe that leads further into the silo. As he exits the silo, he manages to gun down two Bullsquids living under the pipe network, and arrives at a massive room filled with radioactive waste and inhabited by some more bullsquids, which he kills. A lift takes him up closer to the silo. He later kills more Xen creatures and accidentally destroys a high platform used to cross the pool of waste below. Fortunately, he makes a well-executed jump and fails to find the switch that opens the door leading to the propulsion laboratory. After coming across a dying scientist telling him to destroy something before it grows, he assumes he is talking about the "bad music" and metallic bangs Freeman is hearing. Freeman enters the propulsion laboratory's control room, and finds a scientist being dragged into a pit by a Tentacle. Freeman tries to free the scientist in vain, but the Tentacle is completely bulletproof. He observes the size of the creature, and decides to throw a grenade into the pit in an attempt to kill it, but it survives. It does however, distract it and Freeman proceeds to make his way up a ladder, where a bold (or perhaps suicidal) security guard tries to fight the Tentacles in vain, and in the process, he gets the tentacle's attention, allowing it to crush him. The episode ends with Freeman exclaiming "WHOA! SHIT!" and timing his run against the sharp-hearing creatures. Episode 16 Freeman returns to the control room and gets to the nearest exit by crouching out of the broken window. He moves silently from behind the tentacle to prevent it from getting him (although he still thinks very loudly), and is able to leave in search for the room that has a critical purpose or that leads to an exit. However, on his way out, he kills a zombie and destroys the catwalk at the same time by shooting a gas canister, though he is able to cross thanks to the pipe network. Freeman arrives near the fuel room, passing through tunnel networks and taking out the zombies and the headcrabs before arriving at a large wind tunnel. At the bottom, he turns the fan on and climbs up, with the episode ending with Freeman trying to open the door out. Episode 17 After trying to get back, Freeman manages to open the door, but the fans propel him upward towards the planks on the dome ceiling, injuring his head after a sudden collision with the debris. He later breaks the air vent grating, becoming winded and exhausted in the process, and lands in the fuel room. After taking out the zombies and the headcrabs, he reactivates the oxygen and fuel lines (thinking that the oxy button will give him some drugs), then leaves. After making some jumps and returning to the engine room, Freeman once again walks cautiously to find the other way - the rocket engine then is not fully powered. He distracts the Tentacles with hand grenades to cover his escape. Later, he jumps across a wide chasm and leaves for the electrical system room, where he finds numerous houndeyes blocking his path, and another pool of radioactive waste. He starts to question his own sanity at this point, and wonders if he is already insane and just imagining everything from all the things he has seen, such as numerous dead bodies, monsters the size of buildings, and the entire military trying to kill him. The episode ends before Freeman sends the elevator down. Episode 18 The elevator is called down by Freeman as he gets down to the electricity chamber. As the elevator goes down, however, it stops, and Freeman has to go down using a long pipe spanning from the upper floor to the down floor. However, the elevator disconnects from its cables and falls down the pool, and Freeman climbs down while acting as a monkey. After being instructed to restore the power, Freeman enters a maze of moving platforms, and manages to reach the very top of the power dome. He finds a fellow scientist who refuses to go down, and decides to turn on the power. With the power restored, Freeman begins his final return to the silo (leaving the two scientists he has met alone), but he contemplates on how to get up first. Episode 19 Gordon discovers a service ladder that leads all the way up, which he climbs. Later, he accidentally steps in the water that has been hit by a spark, and backtracks to the silo and jumping over the same chasms again. He carefully distracts the Tentacles with his last 2 hand grenades and sneaks his way back into the control room, where he test-fires the rocket engine. To his surprise, it actually works, and the Tentacles are killed while Freeman laughs triumphantly. Episode 20 After the rocket engine kills its occupants, the pit is now empty. Freeman jumps in and slides down the pool of water, and comments on how it "smells like ass down here". After swimming through, he walks on a complex pipe network that leads him to a large pipe, but later, the pipe collapses and sends him sliding down the floor. Freeman has arrived in Sector E. Episode 21 In this episode, Freeman first meets the Gargantua, and immediatley flees from it. He is ecstatic however, when he sees the soldiers shooting at aliens instead of him. He proceeds through the facility, using his MP5 to take care of more Vortigaunts and headcrabs, and meeting an injured security guard. He soon realizes the soldiers STILL don't know that he is on their side. The episode ends with Freeman being pinned down by a sentry gun. Episode 22 After getting past the sentry gun, Freeman proceeds through the facility, encountering more soldiers.He camps around a corner, and guns down soldiers as they run across it. He comments on the stupidity of their tactics, and reveals he shows no regret towards killing them by the dozens as they are "pricks who deserve to die." He turns on the power generator, and goes back up the elevator while avoiding tripmines, only to have a squad of soldiers chase him and run into the tripmines. After commenting on their stupidity, he wonders how to get back up the elevator. Episode 23 Freeman find his way back up the elevator while avoiding the tripmines, and comes across more soldiers, and tries to use the corner camping strategy again. Except this time, one soldier hucksa grenade, almost killing him. After running in terror, he is aided by headcrabs who fall from the cieling and attack the soldiers, allowing him to gun the soldiers down. Freeman eventually gets to the control room with the injured guard, and attempts to power up the train. Upon figuring out the power still is not on, he utters several obsceneties, and comments "I am not happy right now." Episode 24 Freeman attempts to sneak past the Gargantua, only to have it notice him and chase him. After running in terror and almost getting burned to death, he hides in a cramped hallway. He pulls a switch, thinking it will beep and distract the Garg, but instead it turns on the power. After firing with his machine gun and screaming, he kills the Garg, and starts up the train, only to run into a wall. The episode ends with Freeman commenting "You gotta be fucking kidding me". Episode 25 Freeman runs a tram through a concrete wall, and much to his suprise, the tram goes right through it. He proceeds on his train, encountering several more Xen creatures, and commenting on the absurdity of the trains paths and the way it is operated. He also comments on how killing all these aliens gives him a large amount of community service hours. After encountering some soldiers struggling with battles against aliens, he ignores them and comes up to an elevator, which much to his frustration, wont open. Episode 26 Freeman backtracks through the facility, and rides his train through new areas while fighting off Xen creatures. Freeman is then shot a couple dozen times by some soldiers, and after killing all of them, he takes a small rest. Episode 27 This episode was made for April Fools. Freeman travels through the tunnels with his train, kills more soldiers, makes a new friend, and then gets pinned down by a .50 caliber Turret. In this episode, he talks like a pirate, using terms such as "bilge-rat" and "land-lubber". He also refers to his shotgun as a "miniature grapeshot shooter" and his submachine gun as a "repeating flintlock". These are old firearms used during the 1600's-1800's, with modifications in their names to suit their features. Episode 28 As Freeman's pirate adventure comes to an end, he starts his way back into the tunnels via a missle silo. He finds a new tram and continues along his path to the surface. At this point Freeman stops his sidetracking and charges onward to the surface. At the end of the video, Freeman finds a elevator. He takes it upward happily only to be stopped once again by a pile of flammable crates. He decides to think about his situation, starting to question whether or not this actually is a rescue operation. Related Articles *Barney's Mind *Shephard's Mind *Civil Protection *Gordon Freeman (Freeman's Mind) *HECU Grunts *Xen Creatures *Black Mesa Security Forces *Black Mesa Scientists Gallery 63.jpg|Episode 26 Title Card Freemans-mind Logo.png|The Series Logo 62.jpg|Episode 25 Title Card 59.jpg|Episode 24 Title Card Logo-2.jpg|Alternative Logo Seen On The Accursed Farms Website 64.jpg|Episode 27 Title Card Category:Machinima Category:Ross Scott Category:Freeman's Mind